Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Duality Essay

Robert Louis Stephenson’s, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Shakespeare’s, Romeo and Juliet, both discuss the concept of duality as a human condition in different ways. In Stephenson’s novel, instead of masquerading through life, and suppressing himself, Jekyll chose to channel his inner rage through Mr. Hyde. Romeo and Juliet’s desperate attempt to find love and solace in each other’s arms despite what was expected of them from their families, exhibited a deviation in behavior that ultimately cost them their lives. Throughout Stephenson’s novel, the duality of human nature is portrayed through Dr. Jekyll’s creation of Mr. Hyde, which is ultimately made up of Jekyll’s evil characteristics. Jekyll states “man is not truly one,

He ultimately wanted to escape the pressure of Victorian society. He wanted to avoid committing to one kind of life, being either respected or frowned upon. By changing into Hyde, Jekyll would be able to express his reckless behaviors without any consequences. Hyde slowly became stronger over time and began to take over. Jekyll says “All human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil: and Edward Hyde, alone, in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil” (Stephenson ). This quote shows how strongly Hyde’s evil nature had progressed after being repressed for so long, and murdering Sir Danvers Carew. Although Hyde is described as dwarfish and deformed, Jekyll accepts him as a true part of himself. For example, Jekyll states “both sides of me were in dead earnest; I was no more myself when I laid aside restraint and plunged in shame, than when I labored, in the eye of the day, at the furtherance of knowledge or the relief of sorrow or suffering” (Stephenson 105). After Jekyll’s first transformation into Hyde, he stood in front of the mirror. Jekyll thought to himself “And yet when I looked upon that ugly idol in the glass I was conscious of no repugnance, rather a leap of welcome. This too was myself